Coming Soon From Google Glass

How will this change affect the way you can deliver customer service? Find out here.

No doubt you’ve heard about Google Glass by now. If you haven’t, you better do your homework. As well, I highly recommend you scope out a tech gathering near you so you can try on this piece of hardware and learn firsthand about what it can do. I was amazed when I had the opportunity to wear a pair in late June.

As Google segues from search engine hegemony into all other areas of tech, one item in its scope is your glasses, beaming information about your surroundings directly onto the inside of your lens. A bit sci-fi, yes. But rest assured, this multi-billion-dollar company is making it happen.

Helping them usher in this new fashion age is Virgin Atlantic Airlines that is rolling out a plan to equip their flight attendants and check-in teams with Google Glass headpieces alongside Sony Smartwatch accessories. The idea: speed up service delivery and heighten its personalization. The technology integration will give passengers the latest updates (flight times, weather, local events, etc.) as well as assist with other potential areas of conflict like language translations.

So, if companies like Virgin Group are trying out this new device, why not your hotel? Yes, Google Glass isn’t the most fashionable ornament for your face, but it’s the concept behind it that is important – utilizing new tech to heighten the guest experience.

Google Glass is still in the early adoption phase, which means there are still some bugs to work out. Nonetheless, it might just be the ‘next big thing’ for your front desk, butler or concierge team. By projecting information onto glasses, it will allow your hotel staffers to maintain a better rapport with guests for two main reasons.

First, eye contact; using Google Glass ensures that team members are better able to actually converse as opposed to constantly flitting their eyes onto a computer monitor. Second, by providing a heads-up display for basic information, it leaves more room for interactivity, like both guest and staffer looking at the same website on a big screen or desk clerks leaving their posts to personally direct the visitor somewhere without missing a beat.

There are a ton of possibilities to investigate here. And even if it isn’t Google Glass that suits your fancy, surely another snazzy new device will. I mentioned above the term ‘early adoption’, which implies that Google Glass is still in its infancy. This also means that you can make a serious impression on your guests, whereas once it’s mainstream (if it reaches that point) that ability will no longer be available.